This was another easily-assembled meal, and one which is always regardless of what subtle variations I’ve made to the basic recipe.

Brussels sprouts always seem to be a great accompaniment, even for fish.

• two 8-ounce swordfish steaks off of Scott Rucky’s fishing vessel, ‘Dakota’, out of East Islip, from Long Island’s American Seafood Company stall in the Union Square Greenmarket), marinated for about half an hour in a mixture of olive oil, chopped fresh oregano from Stokes Farm, a tiny bit of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, and a very small amount of a very thinly-sliced small red onion from Phillips Farm, drained well and covered with a coating of dried homemade bread crumbs, pan-grilled above a fairly high flame for about 3-4 minutes on each side, removed, seasoned with salt and pepper, removed to the plates, sprinkled with a little local lemon juice from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, sprinkled with purple radish micro greens from Windfall Farms, and drizzled with olive oil
• small Brussels sprouts from Hoeffner Farms, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, spread, without touching each other, onto a large, well-seasoned Pampered Chef oven pan, then roasted in a hot oven (400º) for about 20 minutes until slightly browned and crisp on the outside (they taste surprisingly sweet, and a bit nutty), finished in the pan with a small splash of balsamic vinegar

 

• the wine was a Spanish (Rioja) white, Muga Rioja Blanco fermentado en barrica 2015
• the music was Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck‘s fully ‘reformed‘ 1779, opera, ‘Iphigénie en Tauride‘, performed [here the full-length recording] by Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre

There was an appetizer (insalata Caprese) , and there was excellent cheese after, both very good, but the, really extraordinary part of this meal was the main course – including a great Spanish wine.

• one swordfish steak (12 ounces) from P.E. & D. D. Seafood, in the Union Square Greenmarket, carefully cut into 2 equal portions, marinated for about half hour in a mixture of olive oil, 4 different chilis (a very small amount of dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, part of a small red Calabrian peppers from Campo Rosso Farm, some excellent powdered Nigerian cayenne pepper, and a powdered Spanish dulce paprika ), fresh oregano buds and leaves from Stokes Farm, chopped, and some finely-chopped small red pearl onions from Paffenroth Farms, after which it was drained well and covered with a coating of homemade dry bread crumbs mixed with a little salt, pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, removed, seasoned with salt, sprinkled with a little lemon juice, some purple micro radish from Two Guys from Woodbridge, and drizzled with olive oil before serving
• the flowerets of a 10-ounce yellow cauliflower from Norwich Meadows Farm, sautéed in a pan in which roughly-sliced garlic cloves from Willow Wisp Farm, some crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili and more than a teaspoon of Italian fennel seeds had been heated, braised for a few minutes, until beginning to caramelize, eventually joined by 5 ounces of parti-colored ripe cherry tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, the cooking continued until the tomatoes had begun to collapse, finished by stirring in some NYC basil from Gotham Greens, via Whole Foods, and peppermint from Stokes Farm, both torn, and sprinkled with micro bronze fennel when arranged on the plates
• the wine was a superb 16-year-old Spanish (Rioja) white, Viña Gravonia Rioja Blanco, Lopez de Heredia (ours was a 2005), from Astor Wines & Spirits
• the music was Giulio Caccini’s opera, ‘L’Euridice’, first performed at the Pitti Palace, Florence, in December, 1602 [more information here]

This was actually a very simple meal, put on the table very quickly, even allowing for some time with an incredibly minimal marinade.

• two  very fresh inch-and-a-quarter-thick swordfish steaks (off of the F/V Bookie, out of the Hamptons) from Blue Moon Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, marinated for less than a half hour in a mixture of olive oil and fresh oregano from Stokes Farm (the last of a bunch which I had been able to keep fresh in the refrigerator since last fall), then drained well, covered with a coating of dried homemade bread crumbs, pan-fried over medium-high heat  for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, removed, salted, sprinkled with a little lemon juice and some colorful  ‘Hong Vit‘ micro Asian purple radish greens from Windfall Farms, fish and ‘greens’ finished with a drizzle of olive oil before serving
• kale from Alewife Farm, sautéed in olive oil in which 2 small cloves of garlic from Whole Foods had first been allowed to sweat and begin to brown, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a dash of more olive oil
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Corvo Insolia 2013, from Philippe Wine in Chelsea, located about 50 yards from our front door, and therefore sort of ‘local’
• the music was the entire album. ‘Frederick The Great – Music For The Berlin Court’, performed by the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin (only moments before we had finally determined the exact dates of our May and June idyll in Berlin, der Hauptstadt des alten Fritz.

We enjoyed a simple and leisurely cheese course, with thin slices of a Balthazar rye boule, and the remainder of the wine.

• the music was from a beautiful album of works by Johann Gottlieb Graun (1702–1771), a Brandenburg-born composer appointed to the court of the young Prussian prince years before Frederick became king, where he remained throughout his reign, as concertmaster, chamber musician, and director of the strings of the royal opera orchestra; Graun wrote 60 concertos for the violin alone, his own instrument as a virtuoso, over 100 symphonies, other concertos, and a great deal of chamber music

The only swordfish steaks left inside the fishers’ bucket on Friday when I arrived at his stand in the Union Square Greenmarket were a bit larger than what we normally share, so, at Paul’s suggestion, that evening I decided to cut off a smaller section, grill it with the other two, larger parts, that we had for dinner that night, but then put it away in the refrigerator, immersed in olive oil, to use in an appetizer the next day, its character to be determined then.

That’s exactly what I did, and it was really delicious. It was an incredibly simple operation, but I should have arranged it to look more simple than it did. My mind was already on the next course however, so the minimal aesthetic just didn’t happen.

• four ounces of a swordfish steak from Pura Vida Seafood that had been marinated and grilled the day, after which it had been refrigerated and submerged in olive oil overnight, brought to room temperature the next evening, removed from the oil, cut into 8 thin slices, arranged on a bed of washed purple butter lettuce from Fledging Crow Vegetables and some leaves from a radicchio variegato di Castelfranco from Campo Rosso Farm that had already prepared, dressed with a good Cretan (Chania) olive oil, Renieris Estate ‘Divina’ (a Koroneiki varietal) and a squeeze of organic California lemon, both from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, local P.E. & D.D. sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, sprinkled with chopped small stems and leaves from a small green stalk of celery from Norwich Meadows Farm, and also some scissored chives from Philipps Farms, the entire salad garnished with micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• there were slices from a loaf of the excellent ‘homadama’ (wheat, corn, water, maple syrup, salt, slaked lime) from Lost Bread Co.
• the wine was a really excellent Spanish (Jerez) fortified wine, Gonzalez-Byass “Tio Pepe” Fino Sherry, from Foragers Wines

Having the swordfish on hand for an appetizer meant I could reduce or simplify the main course, which, because of how special the entrée turned out to be, was an excellent idea. The goat was beautiful, perfectly cooked, and very simple to carve, but above all, absolutely delicious, at least as tasty as a much more expensive rack of lamb [this perfect small rack, plenty for the 2 of us, set me back just less than $16].

• one small (13.5-ounce) rack of goat from Marie, who was managing the Union Square table of Lynnhaven Dairy Goats, dry-marinated for about 2 hours [the time could be less, if you started late, or much longer, but in any event I try to have it outside the refrigerator only for the last hour] in a mixture of rosemary leaves from Keith’s Farm, removed from their stems; 2 medium crushed fresh bay leaves from Uncle Vinny’s, possibly Columbian, from Westside Market; the zest from a small Chelsea Market lemon; a small part of one crushed dried habanada pepper; sea salt, and some freshly-ground black pepper, after which the goat was dried with paper towels and coated lightly with olive oil, the oven preheated to 425º, a heavy oval enameled cast iron pan placed inside for 10 minutes, the rack arranged inside the hot pan flesh side down and roasted for about 17 minutes this time [the instant thermometer read exactly 120º then, the first time I checked], for rare to medium rare doneness, and not at all bloody, allowed to rest for 7 minutes or so, loosely covered with foil to keep warm, the ribs then separated into 8 chops with a heavy knife and arranged on the 2 plates, finished with a squeeze of the lemon from which the zest had been removed earlier, drizzled with a bit of olive oil,

and garnished with some of the new growth at the top of a horseradish root purchased the day before from Holy Schmitts Horseradish in the Greenmarket, chopped

• more than three quarters of a pound of really gorgeous small Brussels sprouts from John D. Madura Farms, washed, trimmed, dried, tossed with olive oil, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, roasted in a the same 425º oven as the goat on a large unglazed Pampered Chef oven pan until they were browned and crisp on the outside, or for about 15 minutes, and finished with a small amount of decent balsamic vinegar flicked onto them with a small brush
• the wine was a Portuguese (Douro) red, Quinta do Pôpa ‘Contos da Terra’, Douro Red 2016, from Astor Wines

 

• the music throughout was Handel’s 1721 opera, ‘Floridante’, Alan Curtis conducting Il Complesso Barocco, with Roberta Invernizzi, Marijana Mijanovic, and Joyce DiDonato, among others

Dinner was good, very good. While we were enjoying it I thought to myself, surprisingly good, but if I had considered our routinely good experiences with the terrific fresh swordfish we can get in Manhattan, I couldn’t have been surprised.

• one beautiful 16.5 ounce swordfish steak from American Seafood Company halved, marinated on an ironstone platter for about 45 minutes, turning once, in a mixture of a few tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of chopped fresh, slowly drying, but still very sweet and pungent tarragon from Stokes Farm, a bit of peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia, a small section of a home-dried habanada pepper, and the chopped white sections of one very small Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, after which the swordfish was drained, both sides covered with a coating of homemade dried breadcrumbs, and pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 3 or 4 minutes on each side, or until barely (or, actually, not quite) cooked to the center, then removed from the pan and arranged on 2 plates, sprinkled with a little Maldon salt, some of the chopped greener parts of the scallion, drizzled with a bit of juice from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon and garnished with a little purple micro radish from Windfall Farms
• ten or so ounces of of ‘pinto’ potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, boiled unpeeled in generously-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm large vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with some Whole Foods house Portuguese olive oil, seasoned with Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper, tossed with some roughly cut lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• two mid size red chicories (radicchio), that were something like a cross between treviso and tardivo, or what Chris and Jessi of Campo Rosso Farm have dubbed, ‘Rosa di Campo Rosso’, sliced broadly, sautéed until barely wilted inside an antique medium, high-sided tin-lined copper pot with a little olive oil in which one sliced Camelot shallot from Quarton Farm had already been heated until it had softened, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, finished with a dash of balsamic vinegar, arranged on the plates, and drizzled with a little olive oil
• the wine, totally new to us, was a wonderful Greek (Mantinia/Peloponnese) white, Troupis Hoof and Lur 2017 [for a little about newer Greek wines, including this one, look here], from Copake Wine Works, which is also pretty new to us (we expect to regularly order more from them)
• the music was Tchaikovsky’s 1892 lyric opera, ‘Iolanta’, Emmanuel Villaume conducting the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Slovenian Chamber Choir, with Anna Netrebko, Sergey Skorokhodov, Alexey Marko, and Vitalij Kowaljow